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Viewed now as a big-bang moment for Southern rock, Idlewild South<\/em> also heralded the arrival of the figure who would save<\/a> the Allman Brothers Band<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gregg Allman<\/a> wrote most of the songs, and band leader Duane Allman<\/a>‘s distinctive guitar provides the album with its signature sound. But Idlewild South<\/em> arrived on Sept. 23, 1970, as a coming-out party for Dickey Betts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Betts’ “Revival” opened this sophomore release, and gave the group their first charting single. His emotion-packed instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” meanwhile, imbued Idlewild South<\/em> with its soul. The group’s fleet rearrangement of the Muddy Waters classic “Hoochie Coochie Man” also dated back to bassist Berry Oakley’s pre-Allmans collaboration with Betts, in a band called the Second Coming.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Top 10 Allman Brothers Band Songs<\/a><\/p>\n All of it served as a foundational moment for the quickly emerging Betts, who would play a central role in keeping the Allman Brothers afloat in the period following Duane Allman’s death in a motorcycle accident<\/a>.<\/p>\n The title for “In Memory,” Betts said, came to him during one of his regular writing sessions in a graveyard in Macon, Ga., where he spotted the late Elizabeth Reed’s name. The larger inspiration for the song, however, was from somewhere else entirely: A tryst Betts had with Boz Scaggs<\/a>‘ girlfriend. In time, however, the cemetery setting became part of the legend, and then the legend became something more.<\/p>\n “Some writer once asked me how I wrote the song and Duane said, ‘Aw, he f—ed some girl across the tombstone,'” Betts once recalled<\/a>. “You can imagine how the girl I wrote it for felt after that.”<\/p>\n Listen to the Allman Brothers Band’s ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Reed’<\/strong><\/p>\n Just as much lore has grown up around how “Midnight Rider” came to be. Gregg Allman’s best-known cut from Idlewild South<\/em> emerged from a discussion with roadie Robert Payne, who receives a co-writing credit. Inspired, they dashed from the Allman Brothers Band’s equipment storage room to the nearby studio to try to get their new ideas down on tape. <\/p>\n They were actually forced to break in, however, when a key couldn’t be found. So, the initial demo for “Midnight Rider” includes only Gregg Allman, Payne, Jai Johanny Johanson and Twiggs Lyndon on bass. Oakley came in later to contribute backing vocals, while Duane Allman \u2013 who would sit in with Eric Clapton<\/a> on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs<\/a><\/em>\u00a0next \u2013 made both “Midnight Rider” and Betts’ “Revival” complete with well-placed guitar overdubs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe set fire to whoever he was working with,\u201d Butch Trucks later said<\/a> of Duane Allman, \u201cand that\u2019s what he did to us. I mean, he was very much a messiah type.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen to Warren Haynes on the ‘UCR Podcast’<\/strong><\/p>\n Most of what would soon make the Allman Brothers Band famous was already in place, beginning with the the soaring two-guitar melody lines heard on the opening “Revival” and closing “Leave My Blues Alone.” All they needed was a hit album. Unfortunately, Idlewild South<\/em> \u2013 though its importance has since become more completely understood \u2013 barely crept into the Top 40.<\/p>\n The Allman Brothers finally broke through with the release of At Fillmore East<\/em><\/a>, recorded over two nights<\/a> in March 1971. It was only then that the group earned their first gold record; At Fillmore East<\/em>\u00a0later became their first\u00a0platinum LP.<\/p>\n By October, however, Duane Allman was dead. That left Dickey Betts to construct the Allman Brothers Band’s comeback hit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Listen to the Allman Brothers Band’s ‘Midnight Rider’<\/strong><\/p>\n For all of its woolly, trapped-in-the-’70s imagery, the genre has proven surprisingly resilient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tedeschi Trucks Band Discuss Their Influences<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nGregg Allman Breaks Into the Studio to Record<\/h3>\n
How Did the Allman Brothers Band Find Stardom?<\/h3>\n
Top 25 Southern Rock Albums<\/h2>\n